LOCAL VOLLEYBALL HAS MUCH TO LEARN FROM WORLD WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL GRAND PRIX
By Richard Dy

The Philippines remains an innocent bystander in the sport of volleyball while its Asian counterparts— China, South Korea and even Japan —have made significant strides the past years due to one factor—discipline.

This was the observation of Philippine Amateur Volleyball Association (PAVA) chair Benny Gopez, who said local volleyball players nowadays are not disciplined which is one reason also for the national team’s stagnant state.

“Just take a look at our Asian neighbors and even the world powers of the sport and you’ll see how disciplined they are. I’ve seen how Brazilians like Leila Barros train. They don’t even drink softdrink, only water. They don’t eat burgers. They practice twice a day,” Gopez said.
The Philippines will be hosting the Women’s Volleyball Grand Prix next month in which the best of the best in this sport would gather to play the championship and walk away with the $1.2-million prize. Among the powerhouse cast are defending world champion Russia, Brazil, Italy, 1996 Olympic gold medallist Cuba, Japan, China and South Korea.

While the local volleyball players may be light years away from gaining equal footing with the visitors, Gopez said they can actually learn a thing or two from them.

“One reason why we are hosting this big event is for our national players to observe how they play. How they train and prepare. It would certainly help us in our campaign for next year’s Southeast Asian Games,” he added.

Aside from Russia, Italy, Korea and Brazil, starring crowd darling Barros, will be viewed in the Manila preliminary leg, after which they will be joined by the United States, China, Cuba and Japan in the final stage.

Only Japan out of the eight teams missed earning a ticket to the Sydney Olympic Games in September.

Gopez said Filipino fans can expect a lot of exciting volleyball action—and more eye-pleasers like Italians Maurizia Cacciatori and Francesca Piccinini and Americans Stacy Sykora and Danielle Scott.

Russians Elena Godina and Lioubov Chachkova, Gopez said, are not only outstanding players but lookers as well while the Cubans are expected to perform in their skin-tight, swimsuit-like uniforms.

The Philippines hosted the Manila leg of the Women’s Grand Prix last year at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

The world championship, which will again be held at the Philsports Arena, begins on Aug. 18-21, while finals are reserved for Aug. 24-27.

Currently, the national team for men and women’s is relatively new. Gopez said they dismantled the old national teams due to politics.